Severe storms made their way through Michiana Tuesday night with damaging winds, leaving thousands of Indiana Michigan Power customers without electricity as of Tuesday morning.
Strong winds caused by the storms knocked down trees and damaged isolated areas in Michiana, leaving many without power. I&M is expected to restore power by 11 p.m. but that could change depending on more storms moving through the area Wednesday afternoon.
Patrick Murphy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Northern Indiana, says these afternoon storms have the potential to be more severe.
“These storms are going to be capable of producing significant wind damage, much more widespread and greater intensity than what we saw [Tuesday].”
Murphy says Michiana is seeing the remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal.
He expects the storms to move out of the area by late Wednesday evening, marking the beginning of an extended dry period.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Strong wind gusts from remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal have knocked out power to about 13,000 homes and businesses in northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. Indiana Michigan Power says about 9,400 of its Indiana customers in the South Bend and Elkhart areas were without service late Tuesday. About 3,600 customers in Michigan also lost power. The utility says crews have restored service to all but about 4,000 customers. WOOD-TV reports that Hopkins Village President Terry Weik was taking down flower baskets from his porch Tuesday south of Grand Rapids, Michigan, when the tree in front of his home started to fall toward him. It punched through the home’s roof. No one was hurt.
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